Google launches AI photo app that gives your selfies a historical twist
IF you've ever wanted to travel back in time, a new AI filter could be the next best thing.
Google's new Art Selfie 2 allows someone to take a selfie and then transport themselves to a historical time period.
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There are 25 periods and styles in which people can choose to have their selfie displayed, including a Monet painting, a knight knight and an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.
Selfie filters have been around for a while, most famously on Snapchat, but Google is now using generative AI in their product.
Once the photo is taken and the AI generates the image, the user is presented with historical facts about the period.
People who want to try the app can find it in the Google Arts and Culture app on iOS and Android.
Selfie filters are so popular that some people have spent thousands of dollars on plastic surgery – a phenomenon called 'Snapchat dysmorphia'.
New York physician Dr. Matthew Schulman says people come into his office wanting to look like a filter.
He says, “They come to me and say, I want smoother skin, I want my eyes to open, I want my lips to be fuller.”
Social media users like to follow filter trends and post the generated images of themselves online.
Filter trends include people making themselves look old or filming various things with a wavy filter to see them bend in bizarre ways.
The annual number of cosmetic surgical procedures has more than doubled since 2000, says the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, with young people being a major contributor to the increase.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said one of Google's goals for 2024 is to deliver more improvements to its AI.
In May, he said: “We have been applying AI to make our products radically more useful for some time.
“With generative AI we are taking the next step. With a bold and responsible approach, we are rethinking all our core products,
Google has already integrated AI into many of its products, with machine learning allowing people to search their photos for parts of them.
What is AI?
AI stands for artificial intelligence and allows computers to act in a more 'human' way.
This also includes being able to have conversations – both informal and intellectually challenging – with people.
AI can analyze a huge amount of data at speeds impossible for the human mind.
You can train it, but you can also learn it.
The foundation of AI is machine learning, which is based on models that use mathematics, statistics and classification methods.
Developers will teach the computer to understand classification methods, which means the AI can recognize patterns and create groups of certain things.
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